National pride on line in Olympic hockey tournament

I just can't wait any longer. Tonight marks the opening of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. There is more excitement in the atmosphere for this edition of the games due in large part to the inclusion of National Hockey League players in the men's ice hockey tournament.

Just think of it. The greatest hockey players in the world will be representing their countries in what promises to be the athletic highlight of this winter. NHL team affiliations will become second only to the strength and emotion of national pride. Hell, even Don Cherry, former Boston Bruins coach and now loud-mouth opinion man for Molson Hockey Night in Canada on CBC, is going to be at the Games. So why doesn't anybody in the United States care?

Gretzky and Lindros play for Team Canada, and Lemieux, a Canadian as well, retired from hockey last year. Just because a player may play for an American-based NHL franchise, people think he is from the United States. That assumption is usually incorrect, although several players do own vacation homes in Florida.

What I don't understand is how people can not get excited about this. The last time professional athletes were allowed to play in an Olympic team sport was men's basketball, and boy was that tournament exciting (sarcasm goes here). The only people in the world who actually believed the United States wouldn't win the gold medal were the few Yugoslavian nationalists who thought because Vlade Divac may have bumped up against Magic Johnson, Magic's superior basketball abilities would spread throughout Divac's trade-bait body.

The only way an Olympic tournament could become anymore lopsided than the men's basketball would be if the International Olympic Committee decided to make American football a medal sport.

Although there are professional athletes playing in the Olympic hockey tournament, the talent isn't just clumped on one team, rather it's spread among several teams. At the start of the Games, up to six teams have a legitimate shot at returning to their homelands with gold medals, thanks to NHL players.

Oh, and by the way, did anyone in this country realize we are the world champions in this sport? That's right, kiddies. We won the first World Cup of Hockey in 1996, a tournament that used to be known as the Canada Cup. Do you think the Canadians are more than a little ticked off at that, eh? With all of the anti-American sentiment on Canadian television and beer commercials, it seems like Canada cares more about our hockey team than we do. Come on, America. It's Canada. Are we going to be scared by our northern neighbors? Besides, they are the ones who fear us. They constantly believe we're going to invade them at any second, picking up where the War of 1812 left off.

All I'm simply saying is "American unite!" This is your country. This is your team. This is your pride. So what if the games will be on after 11 p.m.? If you can't stay up late, tape the games. You'll be glad you did.

Enjoy the Olympics and enjoy rooting for Brett Hull, Brian Leetch, Keith Tkachuk and Mike Richter. For those who don't know, they're playing for Team USA.